Associate Professor
Tonio Buonassisi
Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering
Interests
- Solar energy conversion: high-efficiency materials and devices
- Improved materials utilization
- Novel manufacturing technologies
Faculty Details
Education
-
2001
UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME
B.S., Applied Physics -
2006
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA-BERKELEY
Ph.D., Applied Science & Technology
Research Interests
- solar energy, photovoltaics, defect characterization, system design and modeling
Bio
Tonio Buonassisi is Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering at MIT. He heads the MIT PVLab, a research laboratory with an interdisciplinary focus on photovoltaics and system design. His research interests include solar energy conversion, predictive process simulation, defects, multiscale characterization (synchrotron), photoelectrochemistry, system design and modeling, including technoeconomic analysis. Working in collaboration with over two dozen solar-energy companies, he contributed to the development of various solar-cell technologies in commercial production today, including the initial technology for Calisolar (now Silicor Materials). He co-founded the Fraunhofer Center for Sustainable Energy Systems in Boston. The PVLab has a strong focus on education and community-building, and is involved in international research collaborations in Singapore, Mexico, Spain, and Brazil, among others.
Honors + Awards
- 2015 Google Faculty Award
- 2015 Everett Moore Baker Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching (MIT teaching award selected entirely by undergraduates).
- 2012 CAREER Award, National Science Foundation
- 2012 BOSCH Energy Research Network Award
- 2010 MIT-Deshpande Innovation Grant
- 2005 European Materials Research Society (E-MRS) Young Scientist Presentation Award
- 2004 German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) Graduate Research Fellowship